How is it that two neighbors can look out their window at the exact same thing, and see something completely different? This is a question many people in America are asking now. We explore it by visiting a small community in Minnesota, called Eagle's Nest Township, that has a unique experience with the reality divide: some of the people in the town believe that wild black bears are gentle animals you can feed with your hands, and others think they are dangerous killers. This divide leads to conf...
Jun 15, 2017•43 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast The concept of bubbles (social bubbles, media bubbles, political bubbles) has become popular lately as people grapple with the unexpected outcomes of the 2016 election. We talk to two people who are making attempts to break out of their bubbles, and expose themselves to new points of view. We start with a woman seeking to break out of the confines of the human bubble altogether, by teaching herself to experience the world more like a dog. Then we meet a young man named Max, who has made a life o...
Jun 15, 2017•28 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast Is there a part of ourselves that we don't acknowledge, that we don't even have access to and that might make us ashamed if we encountered it? We begin with a woman whose left hand takes instructions from a different part of her brain. It hits her, and knocks cigarettes out of her hand and makes her wonder: who is issuing the orders? Is there some other "me"in there I don't know about? We then ask this question about one of the central problems of our time: racism. Scientific research has shown ...
Jun 08, 2017•55 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast What do you want to be when you grow up? This is a question we ask children, and adults. In American culture the concept of the future self is critical, required. It drives us to improve, become a richer, more successful, happier version of who we are now. It keeps us from getting blinkered by the world we grew up in, allowing us to see into other potential worlds, new and different concepts, infinite other selves. But the future self can also torture us, mocking us for who we have failed to bec...
Jun 01, 2017•45 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast What happens when you discover a part of yourself that is so different from who you think you are? Do you hold on to your original self tightly? Do you explore this other self? We travel to England to meet an insect with a split personality. Then we talk to an internet famous cartoonist who's been hiding a part of himself for years, and a woman who records herself sleep talking, and is amazed at what she finds. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Po...
Jun 01, 2017•36 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast Season 3 has ended but we're hard at work on Season 4! We'll see you soon, but in the meantime, we wanted to share Invisibilia's tips for a successful road trip. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
May 30, 2017•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast On June 1, Invisibilia is back for Season 3! Invisibilia explores the invisible forces that shape human behavior – thoughts, emotions, assumptions, expectations. Check out the trailer for the upcoming season! Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
May 18, 2017•3 min•Transcript available on Metacast There's a popular idea out there that you can change from the outside in. Power posing. Fake it 'til you make it. If you just assume the pose, inner transformation will follow. We examine to what extent this is true, by following the first all-female debate team in Rwanda, a country that has legislated gender equality. We also see how an app reshaped the relationship of twin sisters. And we end our season at the beach, with a man whose life was transformed by a seagull named Mac Daddy. Learn mor...
Jul 29, 2016•1 hr 1 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast We know about the power of clothes to affect how others see us. But does clothing have the power to actually change us on the inside? To boost our intellectual skills or melt our fear? Co-hosts Hanna Rosin and Lulu Miller, along with new contributors, explore the invisible ways clothes can seep into our skin and change us in surprising ways. This hour, stories about a guy who uses sunglasses to fight off bullies, the science of how wearing a doctor's coat can make you smarter, a tailor who may o...
Jul 22, 2016•59 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode we look at situation where someone flips the script – does the opposite of what their natural instinct is, and in this way transforms a situation. The clinical term is "complementarity." Usually when someone is hostile to us, we are hostile right back. But then in rare cases someone manages to be warm, and what happens as a result can be amazing. The episode starts with a story about a dinner party in DC, when an attempted robbery was foiled by... a glass of wine and some cheese....
Jul 15, 2016•58 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast What shapes the way we perceive the world around us? A lot of it has to do with invisible frames of reference that filter our experiences and determine how we feel. Alix Spiegel and Hanna Rosin interview a woman who gets a glimpse of what she's been missing all her life – and then loses it. And they talk to Daily Show correspondent Hasan Minhaj about which frame of reference is better – his or his dad's. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jul 08, 2016•57 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast In this special podcast bonus, Lulu Miller tells the story of William Kitt, a resident of the Broadway Housing Communities, featured in our episode "The Problem with the Solution". William Kitt was insane, by his own definition. But he no longer believes he is, because of what he calls the Greatest Scheme of All. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jul 05, 2016•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode we find that the solution can be the problem. The hour begins with a charming couple from Utah who stumble across a clever fix to their clogged drain problem one day while they are showering together. For them, the impulse to fix the problem leads to a happy adventure into the world of patenting and manufacturing a new product. From there, the hour takes a turn to explore how this very same impulse to fix a problem — the impulse that has led the human species to invent telephones...
Jul 01, 2016•57 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast In a special podcast bonus, Lulu Miller tells the story about a young runner who always thought he had it in him to break the four-minute mile, until a potential change in personality made him question if he was the same runner. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Jun 28, 2016•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast In America personality is often seen as destiny. Whether you're a famous CEO like Steve Jobs or a serial criminal like Hannibal Lecter, most of us think that our position in life has a lot to do with our personality. This episode looks more closely at this belief. We start at a Court House where lines of people who are getting married describe the personality of the person with whom they are to be joined for life. Then travel to a prison in Ohio where a woman has struck up a work relationship wi...
Jun 24, 2016•55 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast You probably don't even notice them, but social norms determine so much of your behavior - how you dress, talk, eat and even what you allow yourself to feel. These norms are so entrenched we never imagine they can shift. But Alix Spiegel and new co-host, Hanna Rosin, examine two grand social experiments that attempt to do just that: teach McDonald's employees in Russia to smile, and workers on an oil rig how to cry. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Priva...
Jun 17, 2016•59 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast On June 17th Invisibilia is back for Season 2! Invisibilia explores the invisible forces that shape human behavior – thoughts, emotions, assumptions, expectations. Check out the trailer for the upcoming season! Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
May 20, 2016•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Alix and Lulu present a bonus podcast about why "Inside Out" was considered as a possible name for the show, but ultimately wasn't chosen. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Feb 14, 2015•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Our Computers, Ourselves, a look at the ways technology affects us, and the main question is : Are computers changing human character? You'll hear from cyborgs, bullies, neuroscientists and police chiefs about whether our closeness with computers is changing us as a species. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Feb 13, 2015•57 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast The Power Of Categories examines how categories define us — how, if given a chance, humans will jump into one category or another. People need them, want them. The show looks at what categories provide for us, and you'll hear about a person caught between categories in a way that will surprise you. Plus, a trip to a retirement community designed to help seniors revisit a long-missed category. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Feb 06, 2015•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Entanglement, you'll meet a woman with Mirror Touch Synesthesia who can physically feel what she sees others feeling. And an exploration of the ways in which all of us are connected — more literally than you might realize. The hour will start with physics and end with a conversation with comedian Maria Bamford and her mother. They discuss what it's like to be entangled through impersonation. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jan 30, 2015•57 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast A podcast BONUS for you today. We didn't have enough room in our Batman show for this lovely story about Julee-anne Bell, one of the many people who have learned Daniel Kish's echolocation technique. Enjoy! Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
Jan 23, 2015•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast In "How to Become Batman," Alix and Lulu examine the surprising effect that our expectations can have on the people around us. You'll hear how people's expectations can influence how well a rat runs a maze. Plus, the story of a man who is blind and says expectations have helped him see. Yes. See. This journey is not without skeptics. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jan 23, 2015•57 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast In "Fearless," co-hosts Alix Spiegel and Lulu Miller explore what would happen if you could disappear fear. A group of scientists believe that people no longer need fear — at least not the kind we live with — to navigate the modern world. We'll hear about the striking (and rare) case of a woman with no fear. The second half of the show explores how the rest of us might "turn off" fear. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy...
Jan 16, 2015•57 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast In "The Secret History of Thoughts," co-hosts Alix Spiegel and Lulu Miller ask the question, "Are my thoughts related to my inner wishes, do they reveal who I really am?" The answer can have profound consequences for your life. Hear the story of a man gripped by violent thoughts, and explore how various psychologists make sense of his experience. Also, meet a man trapped inside his head for 13 years with thoughts as his only companion. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com...
Jan 09, 2015•56 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast Starting January 9th, NPR brings you Invisibilia, a six episode series about the invisible forces that shape human behavior – ideas, beliefs, assumptions and thoughts. Invisibilia interweaves personal stories with scientific research that will ultimately make you see your own life differently. Your co-hosts Lulu Miller and Alix Spiegel give you a sneak preview of their first show: The Secret History of Thoughts. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy P...
Dec 18, 2014•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
